


Snapshots: The Galar Champion and a Dragon Tamer

by AppleSharon



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Rivalry, Romance, congratulations you're both disasters, featuring Leon's anxiety and Raihan's feelings of inadequacy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28650198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleSharon/pseuds/AppleSharon
Summary: “Lance asked me to go compete again,” Raihan said after another pause, choosing to change the subject entirely.He ate another spoonful of curry, grimacing at how the sauce managed to taste burnt while the potatoes were undercooked.“Says I could probably take out the lot of them.”Leon looked up at him, startled. His purple hair was still wild from their battle and it gave him the appearance of someone who had just been zapped by a thunderbolt.A series of snapshots into Leon and Raihan's relationship from different points in their lives. (These will not necessarily be in chronological order and will cover everything from friendship to rivalry to romance.)
Relationships: Dande | Leon & Kibana | Raihan, Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. Sandstorm (Raihan)

**Author's Note:**

> I've been re-playing Pokémon Shield lately and this is basically a dumping ground for how much I love these two together.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Take a picture with your rotom phone next time,” Leon said. “You’ll see what I mean. It’s not a bad thing.”_
> 
> _“So you’re just assuming I’m going to lose to you next time too?” Raihan stared at Leon until the champion lowered his eyes in shame._
> 
> _“I didn’t mean it like that.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt from a friend was actually "Leon is responsible for Raihan's post-match selfies" and it turned into... this kind of obtuse explanation of the origin of Raihan's sandstorm pictures.

Leon paused, his hand hovering awkwardly with a ladleful of curry. A piece of leek slid down the spoon and dropped to the ground where his eager Dragapult lapped it up. 

Raihan wrinkled his nose. 

“You looked… I dunno,” Leon said. “You looked mad but proud?”

Raihan hadn’t felt proud. Having used a few of his revives and helped himself to some curry after losing yet another match to Leon, he still felt a bit angry. Moreso now that Leon was commenting on his looks and genuinely asking what it was like to lose. 

The worst part is that he knew Leon didn’t know any better. 

It made this entire exchange even more irritating. He pettily took solace in the fact that the flavour of Leon’s curry was awful — Leon was just as atrocious of a cook now as he had been years before when they had battled in this same spot as children — although he and his pokémon still had to eat it. 

Flygon whined from his spot on Raihan’s shoulder. Raihan automatically reached his hand up behind him with a spoonful of curry. When Flygon hummed happily, Raihan shook his head. Pokémon must not have proper taste buds. 

Leon threw his hands up in the air with a frustrated noise while he finished chewing.

“Take a picture with your rotom phone next time,” Leon said. “You’ll see what I mean. It’s not a bad thing.”

“So you’re just assuming I’m going to lose to you next time too?” Raihan stared at Leon until the champion lowered his eyes in shame.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

Raihan already knew this. 

He also knew that Leon had made the assumption, a solid one based on their previous matchups, that he would win their next go-round as well. Sometimes he thought to himself that it would be easier to accept if Leon wasn’t genuinely ashamed at these assumptions — if Leon was not only self-centred, but selfish as well. 

It would be easier to accept, if Leon had intended to be an arse, but he never did. Bringing it up would only make Leon feel badly. 

“Lance asked me to go compete again,” Raihan said after another pause, choosing to change the subject entirely. 

He ate another spoonful of curry, grimacing at how the sauce managed to taste burnt while the potatoes were undercooked. 

“Says I could probably take out the lot of them.”

Leon looked up at him, startled. His purple hair was still wild from their battle and it gave him the appearance of someone who had just been zapped by a thunderbolt. 

“That’s…good. No that’s great, Rai. Everyone always says that you could be champion of another region easily and all you have to do in Galar is beat, uhm, I mean, I know you could do it!”

Staring at Leon, Raihan watched as the champion’s smile weakly fell from his face. Leon rarely looked small — he’d been taller than Raihan since he was 12 and Raihan was 14, which was just a bit unfair if you asked Raihan about it — but now he seemed to shrink into himself in shame. 

Raihan sighed and placed his half-empty bowl on the ground, gesturing towards Goodra who trilled happily. A sandstorm had kicked up in the Dusty Bowl behind them and the already unappetizing curry was gritty with sand and had turned an odd rust colour. 

“Don’t worry about it mate, I get it.” 

Reaching over, he tapped Leon’s shoulder and squeezed it tightly with a genuine smile. Leon was the undefeated champion, in their off-the-record battles and of their region. Raihan didn’t want to know what that pressure felt like. He’d rarely thought beyond beating Leon, towards what being champion of Galar would actually mean and then Leon had become a distant symbol — only a close friend when the two of them were able to sneak away into the Wild Area like today. 

“There’s an opening at the Hammerlocke Gym, or there’s going to be.” Leon gestured beyond the sandstorm towards the battlement and parapet walk of Hammerlocke. It had become a dark shadow obscured by sand. 

If Raihan squinted, he could pretend that it wasn’t there at all. That it was just him and Leon with no obligations beyond what was in front of them, like their old gym challenge run. 

Raihan loved the castle of Hammerlocke. During their gym season together, he had dragged a wide-eyed Leon around the castle for as long as he could until Sayuri’s trainers had caught up with them and unceremoniously kicked them out.

“Yeah I never thought Sayuri would retire,” he said, smiling at the memory.

“You should apply,” Leon continued. “Only if you want to. I think you would be amazing!” 

Raihan hummed and looked at the sandstorm again with a broad smile. Without thinking too much about it, he whistled low for rotom and his phone immediately began to float in the air, taking pictures of the Dusty Bowl. 

“Let’s have another match,” Raihan said with a smirk. One of his sharp incisors caught on his lower lip. “In that.”

Confused, Leon followed Raihan’s gaze towards the storm. Raihan watched as the bewildered look slid off of his face, replaced by a genuine smile. 

“You’re on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I searched for the pokémon names but couldn't find anything. Same thing with Raihan and Leon's ages. I'll likely edit these to more commonly-accepted fanon things with some more research.


	2. In the aftermath (Leon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Leon looked up to see Raihan leaning against one of the locker room benches, staring at him with a grin._
> 
> _He opened his mouth to apologize — a long overdue apology for never understanding just how much it hurt for Raihan, for losing to his own brother’s rival when it was supposed to be Raihan._
> 
> _It was always supposed to be Raihan._
> 
> _“I’m not the champion anymore,” he blurted out._

He hadn’t openly thought Raihan would leave him in years and yet— 

Late at night in a suite that was too big with sterile, minimalist decor chosen by the Oleana or the Chairman himself, Leon thought about what would happen if he lost. 

He imagined looking across the turf at Wyndon Stadium to Raihan’s laughing face, the tall dragon trainer’s blue eyes losing their warmth as they both came down from their battle high. Panting in the grass like they did after every battle, Raihan sneering at him from above, their rivalry finally come to its natural conclusion.

Raihan wouldn’t need him anymore if Leon wasn’t perfect. If he wasn’t the Champion. Already he had endured hours of press, flashing his false smile for the Galar cameras, congratulating Gloria on her victory and heralding a new championship era for the region. 

His congratulations were sincere at least. 

He didn’t think that Raihan would leave him and yet—

Leon hesitated, fingers brushing against the keypad to the locker room door. He had the combination memorized. One of his few acts of defiance during his reign had been battles with Raihan at any hour — the two of them laughing hysterically afterwards as Raihan’s fingertips would always tap hesitantly against his until he would grab Raihan’s hand firmly, interlocking their fingers together. 

His reign was now over. Raihan had not been laughing loudly on the grass with him, eyes sparkling like they did after all of their midnight battles, or on the turf across from him, grinning boldly and confidently as his opponent, but waiting behind this door for a champion that no longer existed.

He knew that Raihan wouldn’t leave him and yet, who was Leon without the champion title? 

And who was Raihan if not the champion’s rival?

Flexing his fingers, Leon quickly keyed in the password and a mechanical hiss announced his arrival as he walked through the parting doors. 

“Hey champ.”

Leon looked up to see Raihan leaning against one of the locker room benches, staring at him with a grin. 

He opened his mouth to apologize — a long overdue apology for never understanding just how much it hurt for Raihan, for losing to his own brother’s rival when it was supposed to be Raihan.

It was always supposed to be Raihan. 

“I’m not the champion anymore,” he blurted out. 

Raihan’s smile widened although his eyebrows lifted up in obvious concern.

“You’re my champion,” Raihan said, although not without a small outward wince at the sappiness of his statement. Leon loved this about Raihan — he was emotionally open and honest. 

Rising from the bench, Raihan held his arms out towards Leon. “Over here, champ.”

Leon collapsed. 

“It was supposed to be you,” he sobbed, pressing his face into Raihan’s hoodie. “It was supposed to be you.”

“I know,” Raihan said. 

He wanted to ask the gym leader so many things.

A petulant, “Why did you lose to her?”

An angry, “Why wasn’t it you?”

But above all else, he wanted to ask if this is what he had been doing to Raihan this entire time. If Raihan’s seemingly genuine smiles through the dirt and sand that inevitably ended up on his face during their battles had been hiding an unspeakable pain.

The idea that Raihan would hide anything from him hurt more than the loss.

Raihan’s head snuck into Leon’s hair, grasping the back of his head tightly from the nape of his neck. Leon felt Raihan’s chin rest on the top of his head. It moved and then Raihan’s lips pressed against his forehead gently. 

“Leon…” he began, burying his nose into Leon’s hair.

The former Galar champion sniffled into Raihan’s chest. Pulling away, he steeled himself for whatever Raihan had to say. 

He knew that Raihan wouldn’t leave him and yet—

“I’m so sorry,” Raihan finished. 

“What!?”

Leon winced as his voice cracked awkwardly. He looked up and saw Raihan’s blue eyes brimming with tears. 

“This entire thing with Rose. I just let him do whatever he wanted in Hammerlocke. I should have known. I always—“

“No, Rai, you couldn’t have possibly—“

“I hated the way he treated you!” Raihan yelled. His voice echoed in the empty room. “I never liked the way he treated you like you were a tool. Galar’s perfect poster boy.”

Leon felt himself being pulled back into Raihan’s chest. 

“S’not your fault,” he mumbled into the oversized hoodie. 

“I should have been there for you,” Raihan whispered into Leon’s hair. “I should have at least forced you to take a vacation. Maybe we could have figured it out together.”

Leon laughed wetly before asking for the answer he needed to hear the most. 

“And now?”

Raihan jerked away, startling Leon but holding him steady at arm’s length. 

Leon watched hurt flash briefly in Raihan’s eyes before they cleared up into a soft fondness. He closed his eyes and felt Raihan’s lips on his, soft and warm.

“Now we rebuild, together?” Raihan’s voice pitched upwards, posing it as a question. Through a fresh bout of tears, Leon smiled brightly — his first genuine smile since Gloria had beaten him hours ago. 

He had known that Raihan wouldn’t leave him.


End file.
